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Rein's Folly
Rein's Folly is a two-part fawntale from Cervid folklore about two thieves, Rein (a Reindeer) and Torin (a Moose), who stole powerful magic (called "Gaia") from the Elk to use to protect their homeland from what the story called the "black tide". Depicted as a wilting sunflower, this magic was said to contain incredible and unimaginable power. The Story Part 1: Rein's Folly The story begins with Rein and Torin having rushed away from the "progenitors" (the protectors of Gaia) with Gaia in hoof, deluded with the notion that it would grant them the power they needed. And for a time, it did. Wielding it, Rein managed to repel the "black tide", but soon, it began eating away at him. It made him irrational, unpredictable, and violent. Eventually, Torin realized that it was destroying him from the inside out and decided he needed to seek out the progenitors to get him help. But Rein wouldn't have it. With a thunderous yell, he caught all in their homeland's attention, but Torin's – and when the moose refused to turn back, Rein's uncontrolled fury swallowed half his hometown in balefire, disintegrating himself where he stood. The progenitors, noticing this, arrived to contain Gaia, then sought to punish them for their folly. As the legend goes, the power unlocked a dangerous potential in Rein's people, and to protect them and the world, the progenitors limited them (what with is unclear, but most speculate it is a curse). Part 2: Torin's Eternity The second part of the story focuses on Torin, who is given immortality by the progenitors and instructed to guard Gaia for all eternity as his punishment. He spends 500 years trying to earn back the trust of his people and clear Rein's name, but he couldn't sway the hearts of those that had seen and lost something in the tragedy. To them, they were monsters and nothing more. By some point, much later, his peoples' scorn compounded with the tragedy of him losing his mortal friends and family would drive him mad. Cursing his fate, he cast Gaia into the sea, then set out to travel the world in search of a means to end his life. He spent 4,000 years searching, until he accepted it was impossible. So he returned to where Rein and him had stolen Gaia from, to seek out the progenitors, but they were gone. Vanished. Where to, why – he never learnt – but having lost hope, Torin eventually found his way back to the sea where he cast away the only thing he's ever known. Gaia. Perhaps its tremendous power could destroy him, he imagined. Each day, he'd walk the sea floor, fighting great marine beasts, and it took him a thousand years to scour the sea –only to find nothing. Truly lost, Torin wandered aimlessly, until he came across a village not far off the coast. A village of what the story called the "Marked." There, he discovers that they'd discovered Gaia and were using it to fend off a great evil (possibly the black tide). Different Endings Throughout history, many endings were created for the story. Of them, these three are the most prolific: Torin's Generosity The most common was that Torin, though weary of life, resolved to protect the village from Gaia's corrupting influence, and used it to protect them. That he stayed for several more thousand years, subtly helping them until the village grew into a town, then into a metropolis, and eventually became a bustling civilization. It wasn't for another 6,000 years that one bright-eyed child among them discovered exactly who Torin was. Touched by his selflessness, the child thanked him, and the legend goes that the moose vanished on the spot – never to be seen again. Torin's Greed Another ending was that Torin stole Gaia, once again – he couldn't stand living – but when he tried to wield it, he succeeds, but not without destroying the Marked. Torin's Eternity A popular tale for scaring fawns, this variant tells that Torin never found Gaia. That to this day, not only does he still search for it, but he seeks to punish anyone that is too greedy. Trivia * There is no mention of what the black tide was, who the progenitors, or who the "marked" were. It isn't clear if the "progenitors" refer to the first Ire's of Eternity's Council, but the council has always had three members, while the story presents them as a group of six. * There are thousands of variants of how the story ends. * The story is considered the basis for much of the anti-reindeer/moose sentiments within Cervid culture. Category:Lore